The present invention relates to improved cathodes for use in electrolytic cells. The cathodes of this invention have improved surface coatings on their active sides which substantially lowers the hydrogen overvoltage and results in a more efficient operation of the electrolytic cell. The cathodes of the present invention are particularly useful in the electrolysis of aqueous solutions of alkali metal halides to produce alkali metal hydroxides and halogens, or in the electrolysis of aqueous solutions of alkali metal halides to produce alkali metal halates, or in water electrolysis to produce hydrogen.
In an electrochemical cell, large quantities of electricity are consumed to produce alkali metal hydroxides, halogens, hydrogen, and alkali metal halates in electrochemical processes familiar to those skilled in the art. With increased cost of energy and fuel, the savings of electricity, even in relatively minor amounts, is of great economic advantage to the commercial operator of the cell. Therefore, the ability to affect savings in electricity through cell operation, cell design, or improvement in components, such as anodes and cathodes, is of increasing significance.
In such electrolytic processes, hydrogen is evolved at the cathode, and the overall reaction may be theoretically represented as: EQU 2H.sub.2 O+2e.sup.- .fwdarw.H.sub.2 +2OH.sup.- ( 1)
However, the cathode reaction actually produces monoatomic hydrogen on the cathode surface, and consecutive stages of reaction (1) can be represented as follows: EQU H.sub.2 O+e.sup.- .fwdarw.H+OH.sup.- EQU 2H.fwdarw.H.sub.2 ( 2)
or as: EQU H.sub.2 O+e.sup.- .fwdarw.H+OH.sup.- EQU H+H.sub.2 O+e.sup.- .fwdarw.H.sub.2 +OH.sup.-
The monatomic hydrogen generated as shown in reactions (2) or (3) is adsorbed on the surface of the cathode and desorbed as hydrogen gas.
The voltage or potential that is required in the operation of an electrolytic cell includes the total of the decomposition voltage of the compound being electrolyzed, the voltage required to overcome the resistance of the electrolyte, and the voltage required to overcome the resistance of the electrical connections within the cell. In addition, a potential, known as "overvoltage", is also required. The cathode overvoltage is the difference between the thermodynamic potential of the hydrogen electrode (at equilibrium) and the potential of an electrode on which hydrogen is evolved due to an impressed electric current. The cathode overvoltage is related to such factors as the mechanism of hydrogen evolution and desorption, the current density, the temperature and composition of the electrolyte, the cathode material and the surface area of the cathode.
In recent years, increasing attention has been directed toward improving the hydrogen overvoltage characteristics of electrolytic cell cathodes. In addition to having a reduced hydrogen overvoltage, a cathode should also be constructed from materials that are inexpensive, easy to fabricate, mechanically strong, and capable of withstanding the environmental conditions of the electrolytic cell. Iron or steel fulfills many of these requirements, and has been the traditional material used commercially for cathode fabrication in the chlor-alkali industry. When a chlor-alkali cell is by-passed, or in an open circuit condition, the iron or steel cathodes become prone to electrolyte attack and their useful life is thereby significantly decreased.
Steel cathodes generally exhibit a cathode overvoltage in the range of from about 300 to about 500 millivolts under typical cell operating conditions, for example, at a temperature of about 100.degree. C. and a current density of between about 100 and about 200 milliamperes per square centimeter. Efforts to decrease the hydrogen overvoltage of such cathodes have generally focused on improving the catalytic effect of the surface material or providing a larger effective surface area. In practice, these efforts have frequently been frustrated by cathodes or cathode coatings which have been found to be either two expensive or which have only a limited useful life in commercial operation.
Various coatings have been suggested to improve the hydrogen overvoltage characteristics of electroltyic cell cathodes in an economically viable manner. A significant number of the prior art coatings have included nickel, or mixtures, alloys or intermetallic compounds of nickel with various other metals. Frequently, when nickel is employed in admixture with another metal or compound, the second metal or compound can be leached or extracted in a solution of, for example, sodium hydroxide, to provide a high surface area coatings, such as Raney nickel coatings.
Representative coatings of the prior art are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,291,714, issued Dec. 13, 1966, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,350,294, issued Oct. 31, 1967. These patents disclose inter alia cathode coatings comprising alloys of nickel-molybdenum or nickel-molybdenum-tungsten electroplated on iron or steel substrates. The electro-deposition of nickel-molybdenum alloys utilizing a pyrophosphate bath is also discussed by Havey, Krohn, and Hanneken in "The Electrodeposition of Nickel-Molybdenum Alloys", Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 110, page 362, (1963).
Other attempts have been made in the prior art to produce coatings of this general variety which offer an acceptable compromise between coating life and low overvoltage characteristics. U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,532, issued Aug. 8, 1978, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,240, issued May 1, 1979, are representative of these attempts disclosing, respectively, alloys of nickel-molybdenum-vanadium and nickel-molybdenum using specially selected substrate and intermediate coatings of copper and/or dendritic copper. Similar coatings are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,033,837 and 3,291,714.
The surface treatment of a Raney nickel electrode with a cadmium nitrate solution for the purpose of reducing hydrogen overvoltage has been investigated by Korovin, Kozlowa and Savel'eva in "Effect of the Treatment of Surface Raney Nickel with Cadmium Nitrate on the Cathodic Evolution of Hydrogen", Soviet Electrochemistry, Vol. 14, page 1366 (1978). Although the initial results of such a coating exhibit a good reduction in hydrogen overvoltage, it has been found that the overvoltage increases rapidly to the original level after a short period of operation, i.e. about 2 hours.
Even though many of the coatings described above have been successful in reducing hydrogen overvoltage, they have not proven entirely satisfactory due to rapid deterioration of the coating in caustic environments, ultimately leading to the separation of the coating from the substrate material.
It is thus a primary object of the present invention to provide cathodes suitable for use in electrolytic cells that are economical to prepare, have reduced hydrogen overvoltage characteristics, and exhibit minimal deterioration after prolonged operation in electrolytic environments.